Total Quality Management

Running head: Week 1: Total Quality Management Defined

Total Quality Management Defined

University of Phoenix

MGT 449

January 30, 2008

Total Quality Management (TQM) Defined

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a term used to describe an adapting leadership style. The International Organization for Standardization defines TQM as "A management approach for an organization, centered on quality, based on the participation of all its members and aiming at long term success through customer satisfaction and benefits to all member of the organization and to society." (ISO.Org) TQM relies on breaking down traditional barriers between workers, management, suppliers, and the end consumer. The techniques prescribed by using this tool drive companies to be innovative and their workers to think "outside the box". TQM gives every individual part of the same goal, and it puts all of them to work to transform the company. Ultimately, the goal is a finished product or service that is both high quality and efficiently prepared.

Many different people claim to have introduced TQM to the world. However, the process was originally used in Japan. In 1974 Koji Kobayashi delivered a Deming Prize winning speech in which he described how his company (NEC) had used TQM with great success. (CQM.ORG) The original concept was based on four principals. First, the company must focus on continual process improvement and make them repeatable, measurable, and clearly seen. This insures consistency. Second, products and services should be work properly and as they were designed to. Third, product use leads to improvement in the product itself. Lastly, products should be inherently pleasing to the user. (Wikipedia.org) These basic principals did not catch on in mainstream American business until they were Americanized. The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command had the first wide spread use of TQM. W. Edwards Deming developed 14 points to assist the Navy in adopting TQM ideals. His point's reward individuals for hard work, change focus from price to quality, and teach leadership not management.

TQM use reached its peak during the early 1990s. As with all philosophies, it did not die out entirely over the years but has instead been retooled to fit in to new management styles. The ideas that come from TQM thinking are beneficial not only to companies but to individuals as well. Innovative, freethinking serves to enhance the way all problems are solved. Understanding that the actions of one person can affect the output of the entire company gives single employees a sense of pride and purpose for his or her function in the company. Incentive pay based on results and effort rewards individuals instead of unions or groups. These steps are called empowering employees. Empowerment emphasizes that the hands-on employee has a better understanding of how a task is performed and thus will have the best ideas to improve that task. Constant improvement is a vital part of TQM that leads to ever more efficient results.

The output of the American worker is a sign that these processes have worked. Past studies show that U.S. workers are more productive than workers in any other country. Now that the U.S. economy is tied directly to the rest of world global aspects influence the American job market. The opening of the global market has allowed the outsourcing of American jobs to foreign markets. Globalization poses the question "Will Americans be able to compete against cheap foreign labor?" Production jobs have been streaming out of the U.S. for nearly three decades. These jobs go to China or India or Vietnam. In many cases the production of many simple items such as t-shirts starts in one